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CHAP. 108.—THE LABRUM VENEREUM : ONE REMEDY.

Labrum Venereum1 is the name given to a plant that grows
in running streams.2 It produces a small worm,3 which is
crushed by being rubbed upon the teeth, or else enclosed in
wax and inserted in the hollow of the tooth. Care must be
taken, however, that the plant, when pulled up, does not touch
the ground.

1 Or "Venus' bath." Identified by Littré with the Dipsacus silvestris
of Linnæus, and by Fée with the Dipsacus fullonum of Linnæus, the
Teazel, or Fuller's thistle. It received its Roman name from the form of
the leaves, which are channelled, and curved at the edges.

2 This is entirely erroneous; he may possibly have mistranslated some
author, who has stated that the rain-water settles in reservoirs formed by
the leaves.

3 He alludes to the larvæ of the Curculio or weevil, which are found
in the head of the Dipsacus, and many other plants. See B. xxvii. c. 62,
and B. xxx. c. 8.

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